Portion of NDAA Ruled Against by US District Judge

The National Defense Authorization Act provision that grants the military the right to detain for an unspecified period of time anyone it suspects “substanstally” supported al-Qaida, the Taliban or “associates forces” was ruled against by U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest on Wednesday, May 16.

Presumably this period of time could last until the end of hostilies, which could end in one month, five years or one hundred years. In any case it is indefinite and unspecified in the document as is the term “associated forces”.

President Barack Obama signed NDAA into law on New Years Eve including with it a 565 page document. It contains a short paragraph in which it specifies the military as the detaining agency.

In her 68 page injuction Forrest stated that the statute failed because of its broad language that could be used to wash political decent.

Forrest’s injuction ruled in favor on a group of plaintiffs, including Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Chris Hedges, who filed lawsuit against the legislation within weeks of President Barack Obama signing it on New Year’s eve. The group also included Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, and others.

NDAA comes up annually. We can expect to see the lattest version in a few weeks.